The Equinox (Volume I, Number IV)

THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON THE KING therefore find almost every master of note, from Sankaracharya down to Agamya Paramahamsa, insisting on the maintenance to the letter of the rules of Yama and Niyama, that is absolute Chastity in body and mind amongst their pupils.* Now P. proved that the strict letter of the law of Chastity had no more to do with the ultimate success of attainment than refusing to work on a Sabbath had to do with a free pass to the Celestial regions, unless every act of chastity was computed and performed in a magical manner, each act be- coming as it were a link in one great chain, a formula in one great operation, an operation not leading to Chastity, the symbol, but beyond Chastity to the essence itself—namely the Atman,—Adonai. Further he proved to his own satisfaction that, though absolute Chastity might mean salvation to one man, inducing in the lecherous a speedy concentration, it might be the greatest hindrance to another, who was by nature chaste.+ flax, a frog; ifa cow, a lizard; if a horse, a tiger; if roots or fruit, an ape; if a woman, a bear. “ Institutes of Manu,” xii, 55-67. * We find Christ insisting on this absolute chastity of body and mind, in a similar manner, and for similar reasons; for the Eastern Jew if he is not actually doing something dirty, is sure to be thinking about it. + The reason for this is very simple, Take for example a glutton who lives for his palate and his stomach; he is always longing for tasty foods and spends his whole life seeking them, Let us now substitute the symbol of the Augo- eides or Atman for that of food and drink, let him every time he thinks of food and drink push the thought aside and in its place contemplate his Higher Self, and the result is a natural invocation of the Atman, Augoeides, or Higher Self. If the aspirant be an artist let him do the same with his art; ifa musician, with his music; if a poet, with his verses and rhymes. For the best foundation to build upon is always to be found upon that which a man doves dest. It is no good asking a glutton who does not care a row of brass pins for music, to turn music into a magical formula, neither is it of the slightest use to impress upon a clean-minded individual the necessity of living a chaste life. It is like tapping Samson on the shoulder, just after he has carried the gates of Gaza on 191